


Why They Bonded

by littlemaple, MayumiSato



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Cardverse, First Meetings, M/M, Mpreg, Omegaverse, USUK - Freeform, USUKUS, dorks falling in love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-28
Updated: 2017-03-13
Packaged: 2018-09-27 13:53:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,379
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10023662
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/littlemaple/pseuds/littlemaple, https://archiveofourown.org/users/MayumiSato/pseuds/MayumiSato
Summary: Here we have a collection of USUK omegaverse short stories that seeks to show several alternate universes with all possible combinations of types between Alfred and Arthur.





	1. [omega/beta] The Prince and the not-quite-a-Duke

**Author's Note:**

> Short story summary: Arthur is the heir of the Kingdom of Spades, and it is time he meets his mate.
> 
> AU of this story:
> 
> This story is set in a cardverse universe in which the Kingdom of Spades alternates between Monarchy and Diarchy depending on the types of the rulers. Only alphas assume the position of King and only omegas assume the position of Queen, but betas can be married to a king or queen and assume the powerless position of king/queen consort.
> 
> This is a world in which types are treated differently. For example, alphas are sexually initiated at the age of eighteen and taught how to satiate omegas in heat while omegas are not only completely deprived of information about sexuality, but strongly instructed to maintain their virginity.
> 
> Betas are also affected by the order of this world in a way you will see in the story below.

In a way, Arthur had been prepared for that moment throughout his whole life.

Still, he couldn’t help but feel nervous, his breath racing. He desperately wanted to hold his mother’s hand, since she was walking beside him but he stopped himself before doing so.They were surrounded by soldiers and he did not want to appear weak or ridiculous in front of them. He was an adult. He was the crown prince. His mother, right beside him, was the all mighty and powerful Queen of Spades. 

"You do not need to be so nervous.” The Queen said with a gentle smile, and Arthur nodded, a bit awkward. Those words didn’t really help him.

At the end of the corridor stood large wooden doors, and Arthur knew that behind them was the person whom he was to marry and who would rule the Kingdom with him, and nothing he did would change this fact. This was his destiny. Part of him was annoyed at this, and at the same time another part was anxious and excited with the idea that, in a few minutes, he’d meet his alpha. Hopefully, with hard work and dedication, they would become friends and have a good life together.

His heart began to beat even faster when the soldiers stepped forward to open the door and reveal a large hall where the King, his father, and several strangers waited for him.

 

* * *

 

"You don’t need to be so nervous!" Alfred's mother scolded in an aggressive whisper, clenching his shoulder reproachfully. “What will the crown omega think of you? I’m sure he won’t accept such a weak husband!” 

Under this threat and scolding, Alfred took a deep breath and tried to maintain a solemn and imposing stance, standing before the King of Spades, the royal soldiers, and his own parents. For all of them, he was the future partner of their future queen and the only son of the influential duke Charles Christopher Frederick Jones. He needed to look like it.

A huge amount of pressure was on his shoulders.

Little did the royal family know, but since Alfred could not rule their dukedom because of certain legal circumstances, this marriage was the only thing he could do to keep his family propriety after the passing of his father.

 He had to make a good impression on the current King Consort and the Queen. He had to marry the crown omega. He had keep calm and not be short of breath.

 After all, at this point, he was pretty much his family’s only trade coin and there was nothing he could do about this. It was his destiny.

 Oh, gosh. The guards were already playing the trombones.

 Time went by so quickly when you wish it wouldn’t.

 The Queen and the crown prince were about to enter!

 

* * *

 

Arthur followed the Queen by the hall, looking straight ahead and keeping the most serious and least frightened look he could muster.

 He followed all the standard procedures, waiting for the Queen to take the place next to the King, bowing before them and finally turning around to see who was the person he was to marry.

 But... this person was not there?

 Looking around, Arthur identified the soldiers, the duke and duchess, their page, who was strangely shrunken and almost hidden behind the duchess, and some other servants in the background, but his suitor was nowhere to be seen.

 He turned to face the King again, confused, not knowing what to do.

 In his head he was screaming, embarrassed, feeling that everyone, or almost everyone, was looking in his direction, and he was feeling exposed and frightened. He lowered his eyes when the Queen, as discreetly as possible, arched her eyebrows as if to say, "Control your feelings. I can smell them from here."

 "Go talk to him!" Alfred's mother ordered, slapping his shoulder again. It was incredible how Alfred didn’t get a height difference between his shoulders over the years, considering how often his parents kept a heavy, steady hand over one of them. Still, that certainly affected his posture. Alfred was always shrunken as if he expected to be attacked at any given minute. He looked like such an awkward mess.

 Unlike him, his future Queen was ... Well, he was gorgeous.

 He had almost magnetic green eyes.

 He was covered with luxurious and flashy fabrics, as expected from an heir to the throne, and he also carried a scepter and a small silver crown over his head as a demonstration of his official position there. He was also exchanged glances with the Queen as if both of them could communicate without a single word. That was truly intimidating.

 He had excellent physical features, good posture and none of Alfred's apparent flaws.

 Oh, damn.

 Nervously, Alfred just cringed even more when their eyes met, but thanks to a less subtle jerk from his father on his back, he went ahead of the prince and Queen and finally knelt down, saying,

 “Arthur James Kirkland I of the house of Spades! I'm Alfred Frederick Jones! It's a great honor to meet you, your highness!” He lowered his head in respect and allowed himself to close his eyes a little, because he was embarrassed by that scene. “I—if you allow me to, I shall be your future husband and give you all the happiness in this world!"

 “Oh.” Arthur muttered.

 Was the page... the son of the duke?

 So…  he was not a page, but… his suitor?

 Arthur did not know what to do or say, and before he had time to even think of something, Alfred's glasses fell to the floor. It was not a big fall, but somehow the noise felt very loud. Maybe because of the silence in the hall.

 Arthur bent down and picked up the glasses, a large pair of round lenses that made Jones’ eyes look slightly bigger. He handed over the glasses hesitantly, remembering that he needed to talk too,

 "It's also an honor to meet you, Alfred Frederick Jones," he said, nodding.

 And as he looked back at his suitor, he noticed the lack of something important. And precisely the lack of it made his nose flinch a little, disgruntled.

 “... You're a beta.” He murmured, immediately covering his mouth after that. Oh, no, oh, no. The Queen would punish him for it later. He was sure of it.

 Yes, Alfred Frederick Jones was a beta.

 And betas could not rule anything by right. Especially dukedoms.

 That law was stupid and seemed very nonsensical to Alfred, who thought his beta nature only helped him focus more on his obligations, instead of getting distracted and overwhelmed with things like heats and scents.

 Yet, because of this nonsensical law his family would lose a property that had been theirs for generations when the current duke passed away, for Alfred could not inherit it.

 "I-I am, Your Highness.” Alfred shifted his glasses, very embarrassed, and got to his feet, shrugging shyly. Alfred was too tall and had very long arms. He always felt very awkward about how to stand around important people.  “Have you not been informed of this?”

 "No ..." Arthur murmured, with a wave of disappointment that he couldn't quite explain.

 He was expecting an alpha. In all the stories he had read when he was younger, omegas mated alphas. Of course, it was not the case of his parents, but every rule has an exception, and Arthur did not want to be an exception too - he wanted to live a life like the ones in the books he read. He wanted to have a strong, intelligent and dedicated alpha mate who would stay with him during his heats and help him when necessary.

 That is ... Jones looked ... cute, behind the startled look and embarrassed posture. He just was nothing like the image of an ideal mate that Arthur had in mind.

Arthur looked at the King, and he looked like he was about to give a speech. Arthur was right.

“The Kingdom of Spades has a great History of powerful Queens who ruled alone in an extraordinary way. In fact, the most illustrious moments of our past occurred in the hands of a Queen. We live a moment of peace and fortune now, and we believe that luck will keep by our side as long as we have a  Queen regnant and a King consort. Do you understand, Arthur?”

Arthur swallowed everything he wanted to say and nodded,

"Yes." He turned to Alfred, bowing slightly to him, "I apologize for my immature behavior. This is not going to happen again.”

“It’s alright!” Alfred nervously waved his arms. "Do not worry about me, Your Highness! Please!”

“Prince Arthur, could you take your suitor to see the palace?” The King consort asked politely. Alfred thought it was so strange to see someone almost of his age being treated so respectfully by someone of that age and position!

... 

No, Arthur wanted to say. He wanted to go to his rooms and sink into bed and not leave there for three days. Crying a little would also do him well, perhaps.

Instead, he politely agreed. 

"Please follow me, Mr. Alfred." He indicated the big wooden doors that let outside the hall, "With your permission, Your Majesty." He bowed briefly before the Queen and then set out to walk, accompanied by Alfred and followed by a guard and one of the servants. 

As soon as they left the hall, Arthur handed the scepter to the servant, and after murmuring a thank-you, he covered his face with his hand for a moment, taking a deep breath. 

"Sorry for ... all that." I can not believe. _Ugh…_

"C-Can not believe what?" Alfred asked with a hesitant, confused smile.

“ _Them_ . My parents.” Arthur sighed. Always walking with the upright and correct posture so that the crown would not fall was tiring and his back was aching, “They could have talked to me, told me that you are a beta. So I would not act like a ... like a _fool_  in front of everyone. This way,” he indicated as they walked, their heels making a loud noise on the polished stones.

“It's all right!!! I mean, at least for me??” Alfred shrugged nervously, trying to stay a few steps behind Arthur for the sake of respect, even if Arthur walked more slowly than he did because of the difference in size of their legs  “Does the fact that I'm a beta bothers you, Your Highness?”

"No," Arthur lied. Kinda. "What bothers me is that I have not been told that.” He waved his hand to indicate that it did not matter. He noticed that Alfred was walking a little behind and slowed his pace to look back, "You ... you do not have to walk behind me. Actually ... I'd rather you walk by my side...”

A little flushed, Alfred allowed himself to walk at a more natural pace, getting a bit closer to the future Queen.

From that distance, Alfred again noticed that his maybe-fiancé was very good looking. The crown prince was very handsome. He had a really nice profile. Also, those legs....

No, no. Bad imagination, Alfred! Bad imagination!

“I ... Uh...  I know it may be a disappointment to you having a beta as your mate, your Highness, and I just want to say that I understand your feelings! Really! I-I acknowledge that I don’t have the physical attributes, the scent or even the rights of an alpha and, well, I-I'm truly sorry if you're disappointed with me.” He quickly apologized for what was happening, even if it had been something his mother had shouted him not to do.

"Shouldn’t you be trying to convince me to want this?” Arthur laughed a little, covering his mouth with his hand, "I mean... if you don’t want to, just say so. Otherwise, do not point all your faults like this. People always notice our faults, so it's important to make sure they also know our qualities. I, for example, am a great fencer. How about you?” Arthur said, because he was trying not to let his pessimistic side take over. He wanted to try looking on the bright side. Maybe it would make things better.

“Oh well. I have multiple talents.”  Alfred casually said while staring at the floor “Painting, sculpture, poetry ... I also graduated as one of the best students in a natural science academy. I have plenty of free time as a person who won’t inherit the property of their parents and still have their money, so I invested in the best education possible” 

With an embarrassed smile, he touched the back of his neck and hesitated a bit before adding,  

“After all, I didn’t think they would manage to get a good marriage for me and I was preparing myself to deal with a more ... normal life, so to speak.”

“Ohh! And do you prefer to read or write poetry?” Arthur asked, interested. Alfred had several interests and talents and this left Arthur somewhat perplexed. He barely had time to do what he liked, so it was interesting to find someone who had. Besides, Alfred seemed modest and very kind. Kindness was good. Arthur liked kind people.

“To be honest, it depends on the day.” He replied rather awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. Arthur gave a quick nod and the conversation seemed to die there.

They walked in uncomfortable silence.

It was a very weird tour. Nothing was being said about where they were going and it was so obvious that the crown prince wasn’t in a good mood.

“Er ... What were your expectations for your wedding before you met me? I would like to know it to do all I can to help you achieve it.” Alfred said as an effort to cheer up the crown prince, because it was basically all he could offer. He himself couldn’t ever be what the crown prince wanted, so at least he would help him get what he wanted.

“My expectations are not relevant anymore. In a way, no one would be able to meet them, I guess. I thought about it for too long so that all the details I put on the subject could hardly be found together,” he laughed a little. “But anyway, what do you like to write about?”

That was a little sad, Alfred thought.

“I like to write about nature. I ... I really like it.” Alfred shrugged again, feeling deeply uncomfortable. The omega heir was being so kind, even though he was so obviously disappointed. Alfred felt a bit embarrassed noticing it.  

Again, the crown prince just nodded and silence fell around them, but just for a brief moment, before Alfred remembered he had something very important to inform the prince.

“Uh ... Uh ... Because I'm a beta ... I-I was not trained ... to ... Uh ... You know… S-Satisfy a omega during a heat...  I-I just wanted to warn you so that you're aware of all the details that can be disadvantageous for you in our marriage! I-I don’t want you to feel deceived by my parents or me!”

“Don’t worry. The King can arrange some lessons for you.” Arthur replied, a little resentful. It was so unfair that alphas were trained and educated about their bodies and needs, while betas were ignored and omegas left completely in the dark. He hated being denied important information about himself. When he ruled, he would try to change that, "Can you recite some poem of yours for me? Later, of course. I do not have much time for literature.”

"N-No, Your Highness. Uh ... I-I mean…” Alfred turned very red. He did not want to have to sleep with strangers! He didn’t want that!!! "What good would come out of me training… it? I can’t knot anyway! Haha! Besides, I assume you wouldn’t want to stay in the same sheets as me after the consummation of the wedding!”

"Why wouldn’t I?" Arthur asked confusedly.

Alfred gasped and almost shouted a very loud and surprised “Why would you??” before getting interrupted by the prince informing him that they had arrived. Alfred was very confused by this, since they should be on a tour around the palace, but said nothing.

They entered a room that was mostly made of glass: many large glass windows were on the walls, and the whole ceiling was made of it. The room was filled with plants, mostly flowers, but there were also a few small trees in there, with white metal tables on the center, where they sat for a moment at the request of the omega heir.

After they sat, the prince spoke of the flowers and birds of that room, and for a moment Alfred almost thought that he had imagined the prince had said “why wouldn’t I?”.

However, after some time talking about how wonderful the royal gardens were, the prince stopped and after a few seconds turned to Alfred and asked again “Why wouldn’t I want to share my sheets with my husband?”.

"Well, look at me," Alfred laughed self-deprecatingly, pointing to himself and then to the prince beside him. "And look at you! You're gorgeous!”

Wait.

IN HIS THING TO SAY THE TRUTH ABOUT HIMSELF, ALFRED ENDED UP SAYING SOMETHING TOTALLY INAPPROPRIATE AND THAT SHOULD NOT BE SAID TO ROYALTY.

Very, very red, Arthur stared at Alfred for a few seconds, uncertain.

"You're gorgeous," he had said.

Arthur had never been attributed to that adjective before. He was very embarrassed.

And at the same time, watching Alfred's COMPLETELY embarrassed reaction, he ended up smiling a little, even though he was disguising it by partially covering his face with one hand,

"I do not ... I do not know how I should respond ..." he murmured, "That is, I ... thank you?" I really do not ... " he said, his voice getting lower with each word.

"Please do not have me executed or arrested! I swear this was an accident! I did not want to disrespect you, Your Highness!!!” Alfred exclaimed, shaking his head violently, very nervous.

"It's all right. I will not do anything like that!” Arthur assured him, very confused about how to act. He had never seen anyone - other than his brothers - speak or act so casually in front of him. Alfred looked nervous and Arthur did not know how to help.

 Disoriented, he raised his arm and called the servant,

 "Susane, bring some tea, please." he asked.

 “Yes, Your Highness. Anything else?”

 “And some chocolates.”

 With a bow, she withdrew. Arthur turned his attention to Alfred,

 "You look nervous, so ... Susane will bring some chocolates. They usually help me calm down when I’m nervous so I hope they have the same effect on you.”

 "T-thank you, Your Highness ..." Alfred smiled slightly. Maybe... Maybe he could get a little more comfortable around the prince. Perhaps the crown prince was not going to intimidate or threaten him at the first opportunity as he thought. He seemed very nice. “I like chocolates... I-I always look for local chocolates when I travel…”

 “Do you travel often?!” Arthur exclaimed with a smile that he could not contain. He then cleared his throat, remembering that he was not supposed to act so ... recklessly, as a Queen had put it... in front of someone he barely knew, “Where have you gone to? What is your favorite destination?”

 “Yes, I do travel!” Alfred smiled back, still a little red, tilting his face to the side and barely noticing the fact that the omega heir had moved a little more to his side of the seat and now their legs were almost touching “I-I traveled to several different locations in the four great kingdoms… I went in trips because of the academy’s work and also to have the opportunity to paint the scenery from distant lands!”

 "Have you ever visited the Kingdom of Hearts’ waterfalls? And what about the golden forests of the Kingdom of Diamonds?! I’ve only seen these places in paintings in a book ... could you please show me your paintings? It would be great to see how these places are now. The paintings I saw had been painted thirty years ago…” Arthur said.

 “Oh, yes! I've visited these places! I have paintings of them! I-I can show it to you on another occasion!” Alfred replied as excited as the prince was “I always appreciate when people take time to see my work!”

 “Great!” Arthur clapped his hands together with a sweet, delighted smile. He was having fun with Alfred. He was having fun like he hadn’t had in a very, very long time, “I would like to see not only your paintings of the other kingdoms but also the ones from our own wonderful kingdom of Spades. Do you create scenarios as well? I heard that this is something new that is getting popular... it seems interesting.”

 “Oh, no. I'm not very good at creating images if I don’t have references.” Alfred admitted shyly, pulling out of his hair a few petals of flowers that were falling on him from a cherry tree right behind the bench. “Actually, speaking of paintings of our kingdom, one of my favorite works was the one I made of the Queen Elise’s Tears Waterfalls. I think it's one of the most beautiful places in this land, even if its name is so depressing.”

“Aw…! I’ve always wanted to visit that place…” Arthur commented, slightly melancholic. “Maybe I can go after the coronation,” he thought aloud, and this brought back an excited tone to his voice, “But, well ... and how about sculptures? What do you like to sculpt? Can I see them too?”

“Wait. Why couldn’t you go there before you got crowned?” Alfred decided to ask first.

"I do not have the autonomy for that.” Arthur replied with a forced smile. He used it so much that it already appeared naturally on his face, "I have activities and duties to be fulfilled as the heir. I have to study things like History, finances, strategy and logic…” he sighed, “To put it in a simple way... I do not have time for trivial trips that do not favor my studies, the kingdom or our diplomatic connections. Maybe ... _maybe_ soon after the coronation I can make at least one short trip.”

Oh, wow. That was kind of sad. Alfred was beginning to realize that the life of a future Queen also had its drawbacks.

 He gestured for the omega heir to approach him so that he could whispered something in his ear. Even if it was highly inappropriate it would be much worse if someone heard what he was going to say and anyway, they were technically engaged.

 "Use our engagement as an excuse and go on this trip." he whispered, “Tell them it's a diplomatic mission to strengthen our bond as the next real couple. I'm sure they’d allow you to go there in that context.”

 Arthur could not contain the smile that jumped on his lips.

 Heavens, he wanted to hug Alfred.

 He didn’t go that far, but since Alfred had already complimented him, treated him by “you” instead of “Your Highness”, and whispered in his ear, Arthur didn’t feel it was wrong of him to hold both of his hands together, swinging them lightly,

 

"That's ... I like that idea!" He smiled, speaking softly. He could feel calluses on Alfred's fingers, "But ... would you do that for me? Wouldn’t you have a problem with that? Oh! Can you paint a picture of me? Over there? I can arrange the materials and everything else!”

“Yes, of course! Alfred smiled, squeezing the hands of the prince back. Oh, he was so glad he managed to cheer him up a bit! “Yes, I can definitely paint a picture of you there! I think the green water will blend well with your eyes!”

Arthur smiled widely, looking into Alfred's eyes for a moment and feeling his cheeks heating up. Alfred really was cute.

“Great! I will talk to the King about it as soon as possible. I am excited. Now… tell me about your sculptures!”

 Before Alfred answered, however, the servant returned to the garden with the chocolates and tea and made a startled sound as she saw the two of them holding hands.

 Alfred consequently took out his hands of Arthur quickly, very embarrassed.

 “Your Highness.”  the woman bowed slightly to the omega heir “Your father wants to know how the castle's presentation for our guest is going .”

“Tell him it’s going very well.” Arthur smiled at Alfred, then turned to the servant, "Susane, can you please bring me the map I prepared last night? Thank you.”

As the servant pulled away, Arthur offered the chocolates and tea to Alfred and explained,

"I should be showing you the castle, but ... it's _huge_. So I've separated a map from the castle and I'll show it to you instead. I hope everything is alright. The map is a copy, so you can keep it. It will help you get around the castle once... you move here.” He smiled.

 "Of course it will help! Thank you!!!” Alfred thanked intensely, carefully taking his tea and chocolates, but he wondered why the crown prince was unwilling to _show_ the castle to him.

 That was the protocol! The crown prince had to show the palace to his future mate. Was he ignoring the protocol because he was sure Alfred would be dismissed as his suitor?

 Although…  Well, that was unlikely, since he had prepared the map BEFORE meeting Alfred.

 Alfred knew that his insecurities were irrational, yet he couldn’t avoid them.

 "Look, I ... I know we ... kind of got pushed into this marriage, but ... I hope I can help you by being a friend. Someone you can count on while dealing with your responsibilities as a Queen. I hope to be someone that can help you relax and have fun when you need it and who listens to you when things get difficult ... I-I don’t have great qualities and I have nothing but the name of my family, but I will genuinely make efforts to be a good company for you and to not get in your way if you happen to pursue a love partner out of wedlock.”

Arthur smiled for much of Alfred's speech.

 Until the last part. With his eyes slightly widened with terror, he shook his head,

 "Why ... why would I do that ...? That's not ... that's not _right…_ and also... I _can not_  lie down with ... with someone other than my mate, that would be ... if I do that, I will _die_.”

 He said, and it was the most painful and embarrassing thing that he had to say in months.

After hearing that final sentence, Alfred blinked his eyes in shock for a moment before falling into a burst of laughter.

 “Die??? Because of...??? PFFFF!” He had to hug his body so he would not fall from his chair, almost choking on the chocolate he was eating. He had to put his tea down to not spread it all over his lap. "You won’t die for doing something like that, Your Highness!”

Alfred had a adorable laugh, so Arthur was only partially offended by it.

"The Queen and my brothers and guardians... they have all told me this since ... always. An omega cannot ... lie with others other than their mate. If he does ... he dies.” He explained, embarrassed.

"You wouldn’t die. I can guarantee.” Alfred assured, still laughing a little. “Later, I can explain to you how the human body works and why laying with someone other than your mate doesn’t represent a treat to your life, Your Highness. Please, just don’t tell all this people that I told you so! I don’t want them to see me as a bad influence to you!”

Arthur wanted to learn about the human body SO MUCH, but… not now.  At the moment he was too busy looking down and squeezing his own hands,

"So ... they all lied?" He forced himself to smile, "I'm not even surprised. I wonder what else they lied about. How... how do they expect me to be a good ruler if they lie about things so... about everything?” He said the last part lower and hesitantly. He had no habit of questioning authorities (his parents) out loud. Not even in a low voice, actually. Not anywhere physically. Those questions lived only in his head and it was very, very strange to put them out.

 "You will be a good ruler.” Alfred assured. He thought about holding the prince’s hand again but was too afraid to do it “You are kind and understanding and these are important and rare characteristics of a good leader.”

Arthur had doubts. He had many, many doubts, but he did not think it appropriate to talk about them at the moment.

Instead, he simply held and squeezed Alfred's hand, smiling a little at him,

"I think you're going to be a great king consort, too. You seem to be a very kind, caring, and talented person. It will be... nice to have someone like that next to me.” He confessed, blushing.

"I-I will do my best! I promise!” Alfred gave his best determined look, even if he was turning as red as Arthur. "If you give me the honor of accepting my marriage proposal, Your Highness!"

 "You can call me Arthur," were the words Alfred thought he had heard before Arthur sealed their lips together, sealing their betrothal commitment as well.

Despite Arthur’s initial confusion and breach of expectations earlier in the day, things were... well.

 They returned to the hall later that afternoon and Arthur reported his interest in Alfred. Their parents looked radiant, but they were not the only ones happy there. Arthur was very happy too, and Alfred also seemed to be.

 Arthur later talked to the King about the trip which he approved immediately, to the surprise and joy of Arthur.

Things were going really, really well.

 Alfred was not the alpha Arthur had projected in his head since he became aware he would have to marry someone chosen by his parents, but, well, no one would be.

 Arthur was happy with his fiancé and future mate. He was a gentle and affectionate person; clumsy, yes, but immensely lovely.

 Together, they would make the kingdom flourish, as well as their feelings for each other.


	2. [omega/omega] The father and the new boyfriend

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Au of this story:
> 
> Arthur is a gay omega who works as a freelance translator and has three children from a (friendly) divorce with an alpha with whom he was before admitting to himself his true sexual and romantic orientation. 
> 
> Alfred is a gay omega athlete of Latino roots who is going to meet the children of his new boyfriend for the first time. 
> 
> Lots of fluffy. LOTS.

The house was neat and clean and dinner was in the oven. 

Having completed everything half an hour before the scheduled time, Arthur was feeling very anxious, looking at the clock every two minutes.

He tried to watch television, read and even work a little, but he couldn’t concentrate.

Eventually he ended up sitting on the living room rug with the kids, where they were playing with legos.

“What are you guys building?” He asked as he looked at the pillar of red and blue pieces.

Rose replied,

“A castle!”

And Joan complemented,

"It’s going to have several towers because the king wants to get the stars!"

Arthur smiled, adjusting the ponytail on her hair,

"And why does he want the stars?"

This time it was Edward who answered,

“Because they are shiny!”

And Arthur laughed. He was very proud of his children, and loved them so, so much, even more when they smiled and made cute comments like that.

Smiling, he helped Edward separate the red and blue legos from the others,

"Kids, you remember what I said earlier, right? Please behave.” He asked, and they immediately agreed.

"Papa said we have to be nice to your friend.” Rose commented, being quickly followed by Joan,

"He said he's taking us to the park if we're nice.”

”He said that, huh?” Arthur smiled, grateful that Francis was helping him with all of that. He was so caught in his thoughts that he almost jumped when the bell rang.

Alfred had arrived.

Swallowing and clenching his fists to keep his hands from shaking, he rose to open the door.

 

* * *

Waiting in front of the white wooden gate of his new boyfriend's house, Alfred Fernandez Jones was very anxious.

Six dates and two months exchanging  text messages all the time and they were now at a point in their relationship where they could move on to the next stage. The next stage meant so many things! Being able to sleep in each other's homes! Being exclusives! More sex!

And most importantly! It also meant meeting the beloved  children of the person that  Alfred was dating  and earning their seal of approval before anything else could happen.

* * *

“Hello, Alfred!” Arthur said as he opened the door, smiling. 

He meant to give Alfred a quick kiss, but restrained himself when he noticed three pairs of eyes staring at him. 

“C’mon in. Let me introduce you... These little ones here are Rose and Joan…” He pointed at the girls. One of them had very short hair and the other one had shoulder length hair, but despite that difference, they were still identical twins. "And this one here is little Edward.” He smiled, turning to the children, "And this is my friend Alfred."

“Hi, Alfred.” The girls answered in unison.

Edward nodded, hiding behind Arthur, who picked him up for not knowing what to do with his hands.

"I brought you flowers!" Alfred replied, pulling from behind his back a huge bouquet of yellow flowers he had been hiding. He leaned close to Arthur's ear, murmuring discreetly as he handed the flowers to him. "I brought some cake for your children too, but I didn’t know if I could show it or not. I don’t know if you allow them to eat sweet things at night. Anyway, It's in my car.”

Arthur smiled broadly, his cheeks reddening. He wanted  to kiss Alfred badly, but he didn’t have the courage. He could not do this with the children staring at him. He held Edward with one arm and took the flowers with his other hand,

“They are beautiful. Thank you. And, uh... you can show it. They'll love it.” He smiled.

“Okay! I'll go get the cake! Er ... Nice to meet you, children!” Alfred quickly waved his hand at them, slightly awkwardly. He laughed at the sound of one of Arthur's children asking "Cake? Did he say cake?” when he was leaving the house again to go to his car, parked right in front of the house.

“Yes, he said cake, indeed.” Arthur chuckled.

"I already like your friend, daddy.” Rose jumped and clapped, and Arthur felt like picking her up and giving her a tight hug.

"That's good," he smiled, putting Edward down and waiting for Alfred to come back to close the door. The icy air outside made him cringe.

Alfred came back from his car with a white cake decorated with icing sugar and strawberries that he proudly presented to Arthur.

“Can you resist to someone who brings a cake that looks this good?” He teased with a smirk.

Arthur just shook his head, laughing. No, he couldn’t resist.

“The cake has strawberries! Can I eat one?” Edward asked, clutching Arthur's pants.

“After dinner.” Arthur answered, getting a pout that was heartbreaking in response. It hurt to say no, but he had to.

“Do I need to take off my shoes to get in?” Alfred checked, noticing the number of shoes left on the carpet at the entrance.

"Oh, yes, please ... I've had carpet put in the whole house, so it helps keep everything clean… Rose, my love, could you get a pair of slippers in the closet for Alfred?"

Rose nodded, running to the closet behind the stairs and coming back with a pair of blue slippers.

Alfred took off his sneakers to replace them with slippers and entered the living room. He stopped there, right at the entrance, not knowing where to go or do. It was his first time on that house. He was still a bit lost. 

“Er... Hm. Your living room is very…” Arthur's living room was covered in toys, with scribbles on the walls and stains of gouache paint on the carpet, “...  _ creative _ ?”

Arthur offered Alfred a guilty smile. And that's how he felt: guilty. He had been responsible for the divorce. He had made the children go through a lot of stress and confusion, routine and home changes and... they deserved a bit of freedom to do whatever they wanted, right? At least for a while. He could have the wall painted later, it wasn’t a big deal. 

"I let them play with whatever they want here in the living room. But only in the living room.” He said, squeezing Joan's cheek lightly, making her giggle "Keep playing with your legos while I go get the dinner ready, okay? I'll be right back.” He said to the children, who all agreed.

 

As soon as he and Alfred arrived in the kitchen, he set the flowers on the table and turned, clutching Alfred's shirt to bring him close for a quick, passionate kiss. He pulled away quickly just in case Alfred didn’t want that kiss, but heavens… Arthur  needed that.

Fortunately for him, instead of rejecting his advances, Alfred leaned closer for another kiss.

It was Alfred who did not understand Arthur's reluctance to continue until he saw one of his girls run and bump into his leg, rushing to pull Arthur over by his apron and say in a tearful voice,

“Daddy!! Rose painted my doll’s hair with blue paint!!”

Oh, right, right! They needed to be well behaved in front of the children!

Arthur lifted a hand to his hair, lost for an instant, and then turned to Alfred,

“I-I'll be right back. Can you check the oven for me? There’s—” He  interrupted himself when Joan tugged on his apron again, crying, “—just see if it's not burning, I'll be right back." He asked, picking Joan up and wiping her tears as he spoke in a steady, calm voice about the doll, walking to the living room.

Arthur looked rather busy and exhausted. Being a father with three children of that age must’ve be such a responsibility... Alfred wondered how he could help him a bit more.

Maybe he should start by checking that oven, he thought.

Oh, they'd have lasagna for dinner. The cheese looked very golden and juicy. He wondered if the food was done already.

“Arthur, I think it’s ready! Should I turn it off?” he shouted from the kitchen to check, but not getting a response, he decided to leave the oven briefly alone and went to the living room where a crisis was taking place, with one of Arthur's girls crying while the other was saying "She is more pretty now with her hair blue!” Arthur was desperately trying to remedy the situation.

"Rose, you shouldn’t have painted the doll’s hair. You know how much Joan likes her.” Arthur said,

"But she's mine too, and I like her like that!" Rose defended herself,

"You should have talked to her first, my dear. That's how it works.”

“But the doll is also mine...!” Rose said, starting to cry too, “That’s not fair!”

"G-girls, calm down. Look, I'm going to buy you a new doll, okay, Joan?” He said, and seeing the hurt expression on Rose's face, he quickly added, "And another one for you, Rose. So everyone has a new doll to do whatever they want. I even help cut the hair if you want.”

The girls seemed satisfied with that.

“What about me, dad?!” Edward grunted, and Arthur closed his eyes for a moment, tired, "I want a new doll too!"

"And a new doll for Ed too.” Arthur agreed.

Watching the scene, with his back against the doorframe that connected the living room and the kitchen, Alfred smiled with fondness and great affection. He was very proud of the person he was going out with. Arthur was so responsible and caring.  

“Hey dear.” Alfred finally managed to caught Arthur’s attention now that the storm had calm down, “I think the lasagna is ready. You wanna check it while I check out  _ this new super-cool punk hair  on that doll _ ?”

“Did you like it?!” Rose asked in surprise.

“Yeah! It’s amazing! We can give her an incredible hairstyle too! Just let me put a little gel on it!” Alfred added, sitting down to talk to the children.

Agreeing with Alfred’s suggestion, Arthur kissed Edward's forehead and stood up to go to the kitchen while Alfred distracted the kids. He turned off the oven and took out the lightly burned lasagna from there, placing it on the table, along with plates and cutlery. He positioned Edward's high chair as well, and then returned to the living room, where he saw Alfred braiding the hair of one of the dolls. The girls seemed interested and Edward was holding a second doll, trying to imitate Alfred.

Arthur smiled and moved closer, sitting down on the couch beside them.

“Your friend is very cool, Dad!” Rose smiled happily, and Arthur agreed,

“I also think so.”

“... And that’s why you don’t have to paint your doll’s hair to give her a new look! If you just change her hairstyle, she can look different everyday!” Alfred explained, finishing the plaited braid in the doll's blue hair.

The girls seemed to understand the lesson well and nodded positively, very earnest and intrigued.

Now where was Edward?

Alfred turned to look for him and smiled at the sight of him hugging Arthur.

“I used the best of my charms, but he really likes to stick to you!” Alfred  pointed out with a laugh.

“I'm his favorite omega.” Arthur teased, squeezing the little boy against him and kissing his forehead until he giggled and tried to escape. He was so small and he had such a sweet scent. Sometimes Arthur wondered what kind of alpha he would be when he was grown up. Arrogant, jealous and possessive as Arthur's mother? Or gentle, sweet and charitable, like Francis? Arthur really hoped him to be like his father.

"You're an omega, too, aren’t you?" Rose suddenly asked Alfred.

"But you're strong just like papa. Why?” Joan added.

"Girls, that's not ..." Arthur tried, but Alfred gave a signal to indicate that everything was fine.

“Well, my body is like that because I like sports.” Alfred shrugged. "Do you like sports too?"

“Hide and seek counts?” Joan asked, and they all laughed.

"Are you Daddy's friend or boyfriend?" Rose asked. 

Arthur felt he should answer that, but before he could, Edward asked,

“What's a boyfriend?”

And Joan promptly replied:

"That's what comes before husband."

Arthur sank his face into Edward's back, embarrassed.

Oh...

What should Alfred answer? Did Arthur prefer  for him to describe himself only as a friend to his children or...?

" _ What should I tell them? _ " Alfred asked in his native language.

" _ You can tell them that we are dating _ ." Arthur replied, also in Spanish. His accent was loaded and kind of ... strange, but it was better than whispering in front of the children. They’d be more suspicious that way.

"What did you say, Daddy? I didn’t understand.” Edward asked, raising his head and squeezing Arthur's cheeks with his chubby fingers.

“Nothing much.” Arthur laughed, inflating his cheeks with air and making Edward laugh.

"Me and your father are dating.” Alfred replied with a soft voice, putting his arm around Arthur's shoulders “I hope you guys  approve us being together!”

"Wait, but ..." Joan frowned, pointing to Alfred as if to confront him. "If you're an omega and Dad is one too ... How are you going to take care of each other if you have that illness that omegas get twice a year at the same time?"

Alfred had to cover his mouth to hold  his laughter after seeing how much Arthur flushed and gasped at that question.

Those kids were so smart!

Arthur would have been proud if he had not been dying of embarrassment, wondering what it would be like if their heats lined up and they could spend four days together fucking, hugging and, when necessary, helping with more basic tasks. That would be  _ so _ great. God...

"I-It's hardly going to happen.” He said hesitantly. "And if it does, we... we can help each other. Then everything will be fine.”

"I don like it when Daddy gets sick ..." Edward murmured, adjusting himself on Arthur's lap, holding firmly to him.

"Nobody likes to get sick, Ed," Rose replied.

"With that settled, can we have dinner? Reminder that I brought a cake for dessert that is just waiting for you!” Alfred smiled, gesturing for the children to follow him to the kitchen table.

The girls celebrated with a “yay!!” and little jumps, then ran happily and sat in their seats in such a hurry that they almost fell back. When they were sitting quietly, no longer in risk of falling from the chairs, Alfred laughed a bit at their enthusiasm for the food. Arthur's kids were adorable!

Relieved — Arthur was the one who was most frightened by that almost accident — Arthur put Edward in his high chair and took a piece of lasagne for each of them, while Alfred served the juice.

"I did my best," he told Alfred, "I hope you like it."

“Don’t worry, it looks delicious. I can’t  believe you remembered that I told you that lasagna was my favorite food on our first date!” Alfred put his free hand on his chest with a look of affection, still balancing the jar with the other “You are  the sweetest thing! I adore you!”

Arthur laughed a little, embarrassed,

"Well ... I didn’t know you were going to bring cake, so I bought chocolate and mint ice cream..." he confessed, looking down. Alfred had said during their first date that he loved that flavor. 

“We can eat ice cream with cake! It would be basically a petit gateau!” Alfred joked, giving Arthur a quick kiss on the cheek before sitting down, “Er ... Do you do anything before the meal or can we just eat? I'm totally in love with this lasagna!”

"No, we don’t do anything, you can simply eat." Arthur said, indicating Edward, who was already throwing enthusiastic spoons into his lasagna and getting all dirty.

Arthur sighed with that image, but also smiled. He settled into his chair and picked up his fork, smiling at Alfred.

However, as soon as Alfred put his first forkful in his mouth, the doorbell rang.

Alfred looked confused at the door. Was Arthur expecting visitors?

Arthur hadn’t even tasted the lasagna yet. He wondered if it was one of the neighbors, and after excusing himself, he went to open the door. He was only mildly surprised to see Francis on the other side. He was holding a white plush teddy bear that Arthur recognized immediately.

“Mister Polar!” He said, taking the bear carefully. Edward did not sleep at all without that teddy.

"I was cleaning the house and found it. I wanted to bring it before the children went to sleep.” Francis smiled, putting his hands in his pockets, "Where are they?" He asked as he peered into the empty living room.

“Having dinner. I brought Alfred to meet them today. Do you, hn... want to join us? So you meet him too.” Arthur suggested, somewhat uncertain, wondering if Alfred would feel too uncomfortable about it.

Alfred waved to the stranger in the distance with a slightly disoriented smile.

" _ Are you on a date? _ " Francis asked in French. " _ Why did you not  tell me? I can take the kids to my house to give you more privacy! Oh, but he’s good looking! Have you two ever had sex??! _ ”

“Francis!” Arthur exclaimed with an embarrassed expression. The name, even spoken in a low voice, attracted the attention of the girls, and they came running to them while Edward wept in the high chair from which he could not get out.

The girls were being bilingual literate, so it didn’t matter in which language he answered, they would understand either way. So he chose English,

"I told you about Alfred last month. You were probably texting Michelle and didn’t pay attention,” he nudged Francis as he took turns to hug the girls, “And thank you, but you don’t need to. I wanted to introduce the children to him.”

“Er... Arthur, sorry to bother, but what do I do with Edward??” Alfred asked loudly from the kitchen, standing up and patting the head of the crying child.

"Nice to meet you, Alfred.” Francis greeted him formally, looking in his direction as he hugged Arthur's girls. "I'm an old friend of Arthur's and the father of these fantastic children.”

Oh, so that was Arthur's ex-husband! That was a bit uncomfortable... At least he seemed nice.

Arthur went to the kitchen and picked Edward up, swinging him gently as he led him to Francis. Although he stopped crying with his father's caress, he refused to leave Arthur's embrace, who gave him the teddy bear.

"Don’t you guys want to come sleep at papa’s home today?" Francis asked the girls, smiling at them.

“No!” Rose replied, “We’re gonna watch cartoons with daddy and his friend tonight!”

"Dad's friend taught us how to braid the dolls' hair!" Joan said in an explanatory tone, and Francis nodded,

“Really? You need to show me later.” He turned to Arthur. "Well, then ... I won’t disturb any more. Have a good meal, and remember to brush your teeth, you two.” He teased, squeezing their cheeks.

When Arthur returned to the table, Alfred could not resist checking,

"Your ex-husband doesn’t mind me?"

Arthur shook his head, putting Edward back in his chair and taking his teddy bear away from it so it didn’t get dirty,

“No, he doesn’t. He supports me. He accepted me  being gay much faster than  _ I _ did.” Arthur explained. 

Since Alfred seemed to be confused, Rose mistook his reasons for it and explained,

“Gay is when you like the same type as you are”

And Jean added:

"Papa Francis bought a book about it for us. You wanna see it?”

"The book has a lot of drawings and it's pretty, but I can’t read yet, so Dad reads it whenever I ask.” Edward explained.

Arthur grumbled, in Spanish,

" _ I read that book so often I memorized every sentence. _ ”

"Daddy, stop speaking in a language we don’t understand!" Rose protested, folding her arms over her chest. "We know two languages, and it’s still not enough to understand everything you say!”

That comment made Alfred laugh _ a lot _ .

"What can we do, girls? Your father is a translator. The more languages he knows, the more he works! Although I don’t know why he learned classical Latin and Esperanto too…” Alfred added, eating his lasagna with a big smile.

“I  _ already  _ told you my reasons.” Arthur replied, rolling his eyes and then smiling.

Arthur was feeling very happy and very satisfied. Looking around and seeing Alfred and his children laughing and talking, and knowing that his family was still united and loved each other even after the divorce... there was nothing else in the world that he wanted.

…That is, besides kissing Alfred against a wall until he was out of breath, after the children were asleep.

They went on with dinner and, as expected, the girls had several questions to ask Alfred.

"How did you meet daddy?"

Okay, the truth is he had met Arthur on a dating site and his first instinct was to send a message that was half a pick up line and half a joke, but ten seconds after sending that first message, he was so embarrassed at it that he sent another way longer message explaining that he usually did not use such lame pickup lines or such bad jokes, but that he thought   Arthur was super-duper-cute and cool and he had no idea what to say to make a good impression.

Strangely, that worked.

"I met Alfred at a coffee shop.” Arthur replied, speaking of their first meeting in person, “We had coffee together and talked about a lot of things, including about you. And then we went to walk in the park.”

"I want to go to the park too," Edward muttered, and Arthur assured him he would take him to the park in the weekend.

"What do you like about Dad?" was the next question in the interrogatory of their father's suitor.

Alfred was slightly embarrassed by that particular question because he saw how Arthur's eyes lit up with interest in his response.

“I think he's a lot of fun.” Alfred replied in the simplest terms he could for a child “He is kind, hardworking and a good company. I love staying with him. He's someone I feel I can trust.”

Arthur smiled, looking at his plate for a moment. He loved his children for asking those questions because he felt like he wouldn’t have the guts to do it himself. 

“I saw on TV that boyfriends sleep together. Have you slept with Daddy yet?”

Oh no.

Arthur made a mental note of scolding Francis for letting the girls watch TV unmonitored.

Alfred gave a horrified look of "You seriously had the TALK with the girls already??!" to Arthur and he shook his head sideways in a firm and insistent refusal.

“Yes, there was one time he slept in my house! Any further questions??” Alfred said, eager to change the subject.

“What's your favourite colour?”

Oh, thank god for that subject change.

With more questions like that, they finished dinner. Arthur picked up the dishes and denied Alfred's requests to do the dishes, ensuring that they could do it later.

He then took the cake and the ice cream, serving a slice and a scoop of ice cream to each of them. Edward did not like the ice cream, so he stole the strawberries from Arthur's cake.

Finally, Arthur cleaned Edward and guided the girls to the bathroom for them to wash, and then they were all sitting on the couch. Alfred, Arthur with Edward on his lap and the girls, in that order. Rose put her head on Arthur's arm and Joan did the same on her sister.

Alfred chose an animated movie  between the options the children gave, and when the film started and Edward became distracted, Arthur put his head on Alfred's shoulder, timidly holding his hand.

“Thank you for introducing me to your children.” taking advantage of the children's distraction with the movie, Alfred whispered into Arthur's ear, “They are great.”

“Thanks for coming.” Arthur murmured back, smiling. That was good. That was great. He was so happy.

Arthur relaxed considerably in Alfred's arms after that.

“Hey, Artie. You're oka…?” when Alfred checked why his boyfriend wasn’t responding, he was surprised to find he was fast asleep, with a serene expression on his face and eyes very tightly closed.

Noticing the same thing, Arthur's kids wanted to wake him up right away, but Alfred promised they could eat more cake later, as long as they continued to watch the movie quietly and didn’t wake their father.

He just wanted Artie to rest a little more. He was such a devoted father. Such a smart professional. Such a loving boyfriend.

Only Artie would  raise children as lovely and understanding as those. 

To be honest, in the beginning, Alfred was a little frighten. Alfred had no experience taking care of children, so he had been a bit worried about what it would be like to become a part of that family, even if that concern was not enough to discourage him from staying with Arthur.

Now he was feeling a little silly for his fears. Arthur was there. His ex-husband was also there for the children. And everyone starts somewhere, so although Alfred was a beginner father figure, he felt that he was adapting to domestic life pretty well.

After all, it  felt very comfortable to be close to them. It was so good to be surrounded by that family.

Playing with his boyfriend's hair as he slept and his children gradually fell asleep on the couch too, Alfred thought with a warm smile...

_ Oh, I want this to work so badly. I really love this person. _

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello guys! We would like to thank you immensely for all the support!!! All the kudos, comments and simply attention given to the story was something that made us immensely happy and that we hope to see again! Take care, have a great day and see you next time! =D

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! We'd like to thank you for reading this! If you liked the story, pleeease leave a kudo and/or a commentary! These things are always, always welcome and motivate us to write more!! <3 Anyway, we hope that you enjoyed reading this first story as much as we enjoyed writing it! Cya~!


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